Truck driver charged in hockey team bus crash that killed 16 people

Members of the Humboldt Broncos, after winning the Bourgault Cup in March 2018.

Truck driver charged in hockey team bus crash that killed 16 people

Members of the Humboldt Broncos, after winning the Bourgault Cup in March 2018.

By Ralph Ellis and Janet DiGiacomo, CNN

Charges have been filed against the driver of a tractor-trailer that collided with a bus carrying members of a Canadian junior hockey team, killing 16 people, authorities in Canada’s Saskatchewan province said Friday afternoon.

The driver faces 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury, said Curtis Zablocki, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner in Saskatchewan.

He was identified as Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, said Rob King, public information officer for the Saskatchewan RCMP.

Sidhu was arrested Friday and will make his first court appearance next week, authorities said. CNN is trying to contact his attorney for comment.

Members of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team were headed to the town of Nipawin for a playoff game the night of April 6 when a tractor-trailer collided with their bus north of Tisdale, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Ten players, aged 16-21, were killed, along with six adults — the bus driver, an athletic therapist, the head coach, an assistant coach and two employees of Humboldt’s FM radio station.

At least 13 other people on the bus were injured. The driver of the truck was not hurt, authorities said.

Investigators didn’t provide details Friday about how the crash happened. The bus was traveling north on Saskatchewan Highway 35 and the truck was heading west on Saskatchewan Highway 335, authorities have said previously.

Humbolt is a town of about 4,800 people. The tragedy was felt across Canada, where hockey is the dominant sport and making long bus rides to tournaments is a rite of passage for young players.